"Stupid!" she cursed herself over again. Scrambling out of the cave, dread dawned on her once more. As expected, her companions were gone—all of them.

"No signal, no food and no water—except the whole salty ocean of course," she muttered angrily. "Philip will definitely kill me—that is if they come rescue me and find me alive. But will he look for me? I bet he'll jump with joy. Then he'd call back home with a feigned broken heart to announce to his family that his wife of one week died because of stupidity during their honeymoon..." she continued to ramble on until she reached a shaded area with trees. She frowned when she realized she did not need that much of shade. The sun was starting to go down.

She checked her watch and gasped in horror. They left the resort by twelve pm, arrived at the island by one...and now it was freaking four o'clock in the afternoon! She had been inside the cave for what, two hours? Cassandra groaned. Note to self: keep watch of your watch.

Her only hope for now was when another batch of island hoppers came here.

Of course! Tourists come and go around here. Ha! My dear husband will be very disappointed if I turn up alive.

One hour passed, still no signal and no island hoppers. It was another hour more that she realized why no one came near the island. The water was freaking going up! The sun was halfway gone behind the horizon. This time, Cassandra allowed herself to panic.

She fumbled through the small body bag she brought along with her. Ever since she watched Cast Away, she made it sure she always had a lighter with her. When she found it, she gathered twigs and fallen branches and began a fire. The strong wind made it difficult, and after many attempts, the fire finally grew large enough to eat through the dry branches and leaves. Cassandra smiled to herself. Tom Hanks will be awfully proud of me.

An hour later, she felt her stomach grumble, but she had to wait and continue to feed the fire. The sun had long been gone and what was left were the wonderful hues of orange, red, and violet of the sky.

*****

Philip had been pacing around their room for almost an hour. He had inquired the front desk and his wife was not seen around the area since they left.

He checked his watch. She should have been here an hour ago.

Shit. He should not have let her go alone.

He quickly dialed Henry Bell and impatiently waited for the call to connect.

"Yes?" his friend's voice asked from the other end.

"She's missing."

"What do you mean she's missing?"

"Send your men out here this instant," he ordered.

"Calm the fuck down, Philip. What happened?"

"She went on an island hopping tour alone and she hasn't been back since."

"How many hours has it been?"

"Five or so."

"Did you check with the front desk?"

"Yes. They said the hopping tour ends before sundown. The sun is fucking setting now, Henry, and she's still not here." He stopped pacing. "Send your men here."

"You know you're at the other side of the world, right? I do have contacts there but they cannot be there in a flash. Have you checked if her boat has arrived yet?"

"I'm about to."

Henry was silent for a short while. "Okay, since we have to take this seriously, go down there and find her boat. If she is still missing by then, alert the coast guards. Start a search. I'll call in on some people and ask to hold all boats and planes in the area as long as they can."

"Okay," Philip said, already running for the door.

"Philip, we can't lose her. If something happened to her or if they had taken her, Anders will go nuts—"

He knew that and he did not have to be reminded. "Just go make your calls," he snapped as he bounded out of the room.

*****

If only Dennis is here, Cassandra thought. "No, Dennis is not here and you're on your own, stupid. And Dennis has always been incapable of surviving on an island," she uttered aloud, fighting back the tears.

But why was she fighting it anyway when no one was around to see her cry?

So she let it flow freely. She cried her fear of dying alone in this goddamned island. She cried her anger towards her father for signing the stupid contract that led her here. She cried the bitterness she felt for Philip who was selfish enough to not think of how she might have felt by giving her no choice to marry him. She cried for Dennis for leaving her, hence all this crazy things.

Beside the fire, Cassandra laid her head on her knees and cried. She wailed like a child. Angry, hungry, and afraid.

Then she stopped.

She didn't wail like a siren. The wailing continued and she perked her head up and saw the most wonderful red light. It was turning around and around...towards her direction...towards the island.

"Philip..." she uttered, scrambling to her feet. "Philip! Hey!" she waved her hands, jumping up and down. In excitement, she picked up a long twig from the fire and waved it in the air. "Hey!" she shouted. She knew she'd be safe and rescue was coming, but the tears wouldn't stop.

This time, she waited for the rescue boat to dock and when it finally came to shore, someone jumped into the waters and ran towards her.

"Philip!" she ran up to meet him and skidded to a stop. "Oh, oh..." she said under her breath as her husband's angry feature stormed towards her. She wished she did not throw the burning twig as she took a good look at his angry face.

"Are you out of your mind!" he shouted when his face finally loomed over her.

Cassandra immediately took a step back. "Philip, I—"

"Are you happy now? Did you make your point? Are you jumping with joy to know I've been going half-crazy looking all over for you on a foreign freaking island!" he took one purposeful step toward her.

She backed again, her eyes full of tears of relief and fear. "Philip, I didn't mean anything like this to happen, I swear! I didn't—" her voice broke once again as fresh tears overwhelmed her. "I didn't know...I was taking photos and then...and then...God, I was so freaking afraid myself! But I didn't..." she couldn't finish her sentence anymore. She was too shaken. She was pretty sure she'd hate this very moment by the time she regained her old self.

Through tear-streaked eyes, she saw his expression soften. He held out his arms and she willingly stepped against his warmth and cried some more. Yes, she'd definitely hate this moment later.

"Calm down. You're safe now," he whispered gently against her ear.

She nodded.

"Let's go," he guided her to meet the rescue team and she was attacked by blankets and hot drinks. Someone took her vital signs and checked her eyes and asked her questions. And while all of that happened, Philip held her hand in his while his free arm stayed around her shoulders.

*****

They arrived back to their hotel in no time and Philip immediately ordered for food to be brought to their room. Cassandra did not have the appetite, but he forced her to eat something.

"No, I can't take in more," she said weakly. Her experience must have drained her of energy and all she wanted to do now was rest.

"Okay, but you have to change first," he reminded her.

She nodded and went to the bathroom to change.

Philip took the time to send Henry a message.

Found her. She's safe.

When she got out, Philip was back at the balcony drinking wine.

"Philip," she croaked. He slowly turned around and when their eyes met, they smiled faintly in understanding. "Thanks," she muttered and walked to the bed.

Philip sighed. He did not like that the sense of panic he felt earlier was not rooted from the problems he had back home. He panicked thinking bad happened to her.

*****

They did not discuss what happened that night the next day. Maybe because both of them knew that talking about yesterday would only lead to another quarrel and they were already exhausted.

The only thing close to a quarrel they had was when she tried once again to talk Philip into carrying her on his back for the last time , something he had strongly warned her not to do before they left the hotel, when they were about to board the boat leaving Boracay.

Cassandra had already forgotten the horrors she experienced and was back to her old self and she was quite sure it kind of disappointed her husband.

He thinks I'm gonna go down to depression or shock? Not gonna happen, she thought to herself when she saw Philip's horrified and irritated look when she gave him his plane ticket.

"And I thought somehow, while you were in that island, you might have been enlightened," he let out a breath as he looked at his ticket.

"Enlightened in what way?"

"Enlightened to be a more humane wife," he retorted.

"Babe, stop sulking. I know you'll fix that ticket," she said wryly. "And of course, I will be greatly disappointed if you can't sit at your original seat, but well, you're a Strindberg and you always get your way."

He ignored her and turned around to call about his ticket. He'd never ride at the back of the plane again.

*****

By night time, they were back at Metro Manila and at Shangri-La Hotel.

"Oh, oh..." she stopped at the door.

"What?"

"We forgot something," she told him.

"What?"

"Pictures. We never took a single picture together."

"So?"

"Wouldn't your family demand some pictures? I know my mother would."

"We'll tell them we never left the hotel and stayed in bed the whole time and that whatever pictures we could have taken would probably make them puke," he stated, pushing her through the door. "And leave that box in your suitcase when we leave. Your mother will wonder why it's still untouched."

Cassandra's jaw dropped. "How did you—"

"When I dressed you, remember?"

Yes, of course she remembered now. "Mom gave them to me. It wasn't mine," she said defensively.

"Don't worry, babe," he flopped on the bed. "We could use some right now if you want," he sneered at her appalled look.

Cassandra blushed, remembering that night by the shore... No, no, no, stop right there. That can't happen again. Well, maybe not this soon. She slapped herself mentally at that last thought.

Looking at her husband lying on bed with that awesome body she had been given the privilege to mini-explore once awakened her senses again. This time she mentally punched her gut to stop her wicked thoughts.

"We can make balloons out of them," she snorted, completely diverting the real topic of how he meant to use the box her mother gave her. "And we can sign them and everything and we'll let them float through the window—that is if they float. Do they float?" She should erase the picture of the box and her husband in her mind right now or she'd go insane.

He laughed out loud at her sudden change of thinking.

Not that she had heard him laugh often, but Cassandra found his laughter pleasing and she...Cassandra, stop it right now, she ordered to herself. You can't think of him in a different way. It will be highly dangerous.

Gathering herself, she went towards him and said, "Scoot. I want to rest. We have an early flight tomorrow."

"Ah, yes, we're finally going home," he said dreamily.

She looked at him suspiciously. "And why the amusement?"

"You'll see..." He laced his voice with mystery. "You're gonna love being my wife, babe."

Deep in her conscious mind, Cassandra doubted his every word.